Tripoli, February 23: Libya says the revolution in the North African country has left 300 people dead, including 58 soldiers, refuting earlier reports that the death toll had exceeded 1,400.
The Libyan regime stated on Tuesday that 300 people have lost their lives during the eight days of pro-democracy demonstrations, AFP reported.
The government reported that nearly half of the casualties were in the eastern city of Benghazi, which has been the focal point of the Libyan revolution.
Some reports, including one by a Rome-based group representing Arab expatriates, say the number of people killed by the Libyan security forces in airstrikes and other attacks is far greater than what has been reported by the government.
It is the first time the regime has provided figures for the number of casualties since the onset of the pro-democracy uprising on February 15.
Pro-democracy demonstrations, inspired by the popular revolutions that deposed long-serving rulers in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, have engulfed Libya since last week, with thousands of people taking to the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi and calling for the ouster of the 68-year-old leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Gaddafi, who came to power 41 years ago in a bloodless military coup, delivered a televised address on Tuesday in which he vowed to fight on to his “last drop of blood” and called on his supporters to take to the streets to confront the protesters.
He also declared that he has no intention of relinquishing power and referred to the protesters as “rats and cockroaches.”
——–Agencies